


there's no space for you here (but there is in my heart)

by tsuzurao



Category: Free!
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Confessions, Dorks in Love, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Secret Crush, Sharing a Bed, Slash, Sleepovers, Teenage Dorks, Wordcount: Over 1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-03
Updated: 2013-09-03
Packaged: 2017-12-25 09:27:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/951448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsuzurao/pseuds/tsuzurao
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nagisa insists on spending a night at Rei's house. Rei agonizes over everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	there's no space for you here (but there is in my heart)

This was ridiculous.

There was nothing on the floor (he'd made sure of that an upwards of five times even though there wasn't anything to pick up to start with). His books were arranged perfectly by title, as always. Not a single speck of dust could be found anywhere. Everything was pristine, clean, and organized. Exactly how it was mantained every single day.

Rei was realizing - not for the first time since coming home from school two hours ago - that he was checking his room over for no reason.

He sighed and rubbed at his face below the glasses.

It was just Nagisa. Like Nagisa would care if maybe Rei had a few things laying about out of place. Not that he ever did, but that was so far from the point it didn't matter. His room was fine. There was no need for improvements.

Rei rubbed harder at his right cheek for a moment, repeating a mantra of _nothing to improve, nothing to improve, nothing to improve_ in his head. He still felt twitchy despite the mental insistence, like there was something he needed to do before Nagisa arrived.

He already changed out of his uniform - now wearing a purple t-shirt and blue jeans - so it wasn't that. He certainly didn't need to go get anything - not that he knew of anyway. He was just having a friend over; what could he possibly need?

Sighing once more, Rei sat down at the end of his bed. Flopping back unto the top cover, he pushed the back of his head into a pillow in frustration.

He was fine. Everything was fine. He just had to wait is all. It was just Nagisa spending the night at his house. He'd had friends over to spend the night before—

—when he was ten years old.

And none of those friends had been Nagisa.

Bluntly put, Rei was screwed.

Before he could properly lament over the situation, with a lot of sighing and mourning about how badly this could end, his cell phone went off. Rei reached into his pocket without looking to grab it and fixed his glasses to read the notification.

It was a text from Nagisa.

_hey be there soon~! ;D_

Rei was completely screwed.

The sentiment was still stuck in his head like pieces of paper glued together when he was opening the front door for Nagisa ten minutes later.

Nagisa had changed into a plain white shirt and red cargo shorts since Rei last saw him, and there was an overnight bag slung over Nagisa's right shoulder. Seeing that really made it sink in for Rei _oh god, Nagisa is here to sleep over_ , and he maybe possibly _sorta_ had an internal freak out. Maybe.

His glasses fell down his nose a little.

Nagisa was smiling, lips stretched into this big thing that took up half his face. "Hi, Rei-chan," he said quickly before pushing past Rei to get in the house, already toeing off his shoes before Rei could even turn around all the way to follow the movement.

"Uh," Rei responded. So much for being eloquent. Closing the sliding door behind him, he fixed his glasses and tried again. "Hello, Nagisa-kun."

Smile still in place and shoes removed, Nagisa grabbed Rei's right wrist and tugged on his arm. Rei didn't budge an inch - for once. "Come on, Rei-chan, I want to see your room."

"Okay." Rei barely got the word out before he was being dragged through his own house. He should have seen that one coming. Nagisa did have a knack of being able to lead him around by the arm like it was no big deal. That, and Rei never really put up that much of a fight.

Luckily, the door to his bedroom had been left open from earlier (he might have rushed to reach the front door, _might_ ) and Nagisa went right for it, probably based on a really good guess.

Nagisa let his bag drop to floor once they were inside. Rei kept his distance, standing by the door after pulling it shut. He was suddenly really nervous. He swallowed down some saliva and kept quiet.

"You don't have a lot of stuff, huh," Nagisa commented. He curiously eyed the books on the shelves behind Rei's bed. "What do you for fun in here?"

Rei answered immediately.

"Read," he said.

Nagisa laughed. "I could have guessed that," he replied.

"I'm sorry?"

Nagisa shrugged, quickly forgetting about Rei's apparently obvious hobby in favor of inspecting the rest of the room. Meanwhile Rei continued to stand in the same spot, just watching Nagisa look about since he didn't really know what else to do. That didn't last much longer as Nagisa, assumedly done with the evaluation of Rei's room, plopped down on the bed, black sheets wrinkling under his weight. Rei also sat down, right next to Nagisa, so he wouldn't look rude.

"Um..."

What now?

Nagisa's legs swung back and forth, socked feet brushing the floor.

Rei cleared his throat.

"Are you hungry or...?"

"I ate before I left."

"O-Oh."

Rei adjusted his glasses.

Crap.

"Then is there something you wanted to do?"

"Not really, I guess."

_Crap._

"Do I need to show where anything is?"

"Nah, I'll find everything on my own."

**_Crap._ **

"Are you okay?" Nagisa asked, leaning down to Rei's level.

Rei had curled into himself with each question until his head was almost between his knees. Honestly, he didn't even know he was doing it.

He jerked back up quickly, leaving Nagisa to stare up at him from a lower height than usual. "I'm fine!" he assured, perhaps none too convincingly. Reflexively, and because he felt slightly restless and needed to physically do _something_ , he pressed his glasses back up his nose.

Nagisa smiled and straightened himself. "Well okay," he said humorously.

He bumped his shoulder into Rei's arm and didn't say anything else about it.

oOo

In hindsight, Rei probably should have prepared for this in advance. And, really, how was he supposed to remember this after being on edge for nearly an hour and then finally relaxing because being with Nagisa was so easy? Well, at least half the time it was. But, regardless, Rei cannot believe he actually forgot something so crucial.

Something in Rei's face twitched. "My bed isn't big enough for two people!" he protested.

This had been going on for five minutes.

Nagisa puffed his cheeks up with air, looking absolutely put off, furrowed eyebrows and everything. It would be cute had they been talking about something else. "I'm not sleeping on the floor, Rei-chan," he said sourly.

"I didn't say you had to!"

Nagisa's face brightened immediately. "Then it's settled!" he replied cheerfully. Before Rei could even think of a counter argument, Nagisa fell back on the bed with a bounce, snug right in the middle in his light blue pajamas.

Rei sighed. There was nothing he could do about it now.

After turning the light off, Rei removed his glasses and placed them on the shelf with his books. He shooed Nagisa closer to the window - who did so with a laugh whilst getting under the sheets - and got into bed.

It was a really tight fit, just like Rei thought it would be. Even on their sides, their legs brushed together underneath the sheets, and Rei's arm ended up mostly pressed against his side and the mattress. Nagisa's feet were resting between Rei's shins. He was probably doing it on purpose.

Silence reigned for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry we didn't really do anything," Rei said lowly, apologetic, staring at the pillow under his head instead of looking at Nagisa. He couldn't see very well even with the moonlight coming through the window, and not wearing his glasses didn't help matters much. What little of Nagisa's face still in his line of sight was nothing but slightly fuzzy, blurry colors attached to a shape.

"What are you talking about?" Nagisa asked, blinking strawberry colored eyes in confusion. "I got to spend time with Rei-chan." He yawned. "That's good enough." That surprised Rei, so he glanced over at the blurred online of Nagisa.

It was hard to make out, and he had to squint to really see it, but Nagisa was smiling. From what Rei could see, it was a lot smaller than usual. A touch sleepy and—

An embarrassed sound clawed up Rei's throat, and he couldn't push it back down. "If you say so," he dismissed, his face suddenly warm.

Nagisa reached over and patted his cheek. Rei's skin turned hot underneath Nagisa's fingers.

"I really like you, Rei-chan," Nagisa said.

"I-I like you, too, Nagisa-kun," Rei said, voice breaking slightly in further embarrassment.

Nagisa reached passed Rei's face to sling his arm over a shoulder in a half hug, closing the little amount of space between them to snuggle into Rei's chest. "No, I _really_ like you, Rei-chan."

In the dark, Rei's eyes widened. Fixated at the mop of blond hair nestled at the opening of his black pajama top almost in disbelief, he swallowed nervously. He really considered just leaving it there and not asking, but he built up some resolve and asked anyway. "Do you mean...?"

Nagisa squeezed him. "Mmhm."

Rei felt his heart pounding rapidly.

"I... I feel the same way."

Nagisa attacked him with a bigger hug that pushed Rei onto his back, and they almost rolled off the mattress with the sheets caught between them.

But at least having enough room in the bed probably wasn't going to be an issue anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> i am so ashamed.
> 
>  
> 
> please feel free to follow and talk to me at these places!!
> 
> tumblr: [yukinoyayoi](http://yukinoyayoi.tumblr.com/)  
> writing tumblr: [nahoes](http://nahoes.tumblr.com/)  
> twitter: [heartgauge](http://www.twitter.com/heartgauge) (ask before following)


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